


Professor Milkovich

by DodgerBear



Category: Shameless (US)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-20
Updated: 2019-01-20
Packaged: 2019-10-13 08:50:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17485004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DodgerBear/pseuds/DodgerBear
Summary: Mickey, the accidental math tutor.





	Professor Milkovich

 

It all started when Franny was in junior high school and falling behind in her math class. She was good at most things at school but excelled at sports more than anything else. With her time focused on beating her track times and being the star of the swim team she let the ball drop with her math. Now she was faced with the dilemma of either picking up her grade by midterms or losing her spot on the team. 

 

Lip promised he would help. He was the Gallagher genius so it obviously fell to him to sort Franny out and get her back in the pool. Only Lip wasn’t going to be around much with his job taking him to New York for the next few months. So instead he promised to tutor her online and grade her practice papers. Franny was already pretty confident she was never getting back in the team. It all came crashing to a head one day when she was sitting at the Gallagher kitchen table trying to do the problems Lip set for her and getting more and more frustrated at her failure. 

“FUCKING HELL!!!”

The back door swung open and Mickey appeared, hands raised in surrender. 

“Woah. Be calm.”

Franny stared at him for a moment and then burst into tears. 

“Hey. What’s goin on kid?” Mickey came inside and closed the door. “Where’s your mom?”

“Work.” Franny sniffed. 

“What you cryin for?”

Mickey unwound his scarf and placed it on the table while he waited for the youngster to get herself together. 

“I got kicked off the swim team cause my math grades suck. I have to pull it back by next week or I’m gone for good.”

Mickey sighed. “That sucks kid. I’m sorry.”

He sat down opposite her and glanced at her papers. 

“You’re studying though right?”

“I don’t get it. Uncle Lip gave me these problems to do but I don’t understand any of it. And he’s in New York so he can’t help me. I asked Uncle Liam but he sucks at math even more than I do.” Franny’s sniffles got louder and she wiped her face on her sleeve. 

Mickey shrugged off his coat and grabbed the sheet of paper in front of her. 

“You’re forgetting to carry over. There...look. That column is right but you don’t carry it over so the next one is wrong. That’s messing everything up from then on.”

“Shit.” Franny sighed heavily. “I remember learning that now.”

“Pass that pen...”

Mickey took it and scrawled a new problem and passed it back. “Try again.”

Franny was slow but she didn’t make the same mistake again. Mickey grinned and leaned back in his chair. 

“Awesome. Just remember that and you’ll be fine. You nailed the rest of it.”

“Thanks Uncle Mickey.”

“You’re welcome. Yev struggled sometimes too and look at him now. Kid’s got colleges fighting over him. You’re gonna be fine.”

“How’d you get so good at this stuff?” Franny smiled. 

Mickey’s expression closed up. “I do the books for the shop.”

No way in hell was he telling her about his drug running days, his stint at running his own prostitution racket or his time in jail where he passed the time by taking his GED. 

“Well thanks. I really needed the help.”

“Sure.”

“Could you help me again tomorrow? Long division. Please?”

“Sorry kid. I’m working tomorrow.”

“Please Uncle Mickey! I’m begging you! I need the help and Uncle Lip isn’t around...”

Mickey was never able to pass up the opportunity to get one over on Lip Gallagher. Even if it was only in his own head. 

“Alright. Come by the shop after school and you can study while I work. Now...you seen Carl around? I gotta take a look at his car.”

Franny shook her head. “He left his keys on the counter over there.”

Mickey scooped them up and headed back to the door. “Take it easy, kid.”

 

For the next week, every day after school Franny would set out her books in Mickey’s tiny office at the auto shop he ran. A couple of the younger mechanics he worked with teased him about it but he quickly shut down their crude talk about cradle robbing and teenage crushes. 

“Watch your fuckin mouth. She’s family.”

Franny smiled to herself as she worked on fractions and probability, pleased that she got to see the rare sweet side to her tough ass uncle. 

 

Franny sat her exam feeling strangely calm. Considering how much was riding on a pass she was cool, calm and collected. Mickey had gone through snippets of everything they’d covered with her the night before and now she felt prepared. With a silent vow to herself never to miss studying again, she opened the paper and grinned at the first question. Probability. Mickey was something of an expert in this and had shared his knowledge in a way Franny could understand. He thought she didn’t know about him. But kids talk. And the kids at her high school had plenty to say about her family. Her alcoholic grandfather was a hot topic. Her sexy Uncle Carl was another (their words, not hers. Eew.) But no topic was hotter than her gay Uncle Ian and his thug partner Mickey. You know, the one that got kicked out of school for dealing drugs. The one that went to juvie and then married a Russian hooker. And did you know he ran a brothel above a bar? He went to prison too, did you know that? Kids just couldn’t keep their damn mouths shut. Franny let it float over her head. She knew Mickey wasn’t in line for a sainthood but he was a good man who always had Ian’s back. 

 

It was a week later when the results came in. No amount of begging and pleading from Franny would make her teacher grade them any quicker. Now was the moment of truth. Last period on Friday and Mr Brown made them wait until just before the bell to hand out their papers. Franny nervously looked down and saw the huge red writing in the top corner. 

A-

She’d done it. She’d really done it. In a state of utter jubilation she shrieked her happiness and gathered up her stuff. On the first sound of the bell she darted from the classroom and ran all the way to the gym to find her coach. 

“Well done Gallagher. You did it. See you after school Monday for practice.” Coach Dawson high-fived her. 

 

Franny ran all the way to the auto shop next. She looked around for Mickey but couldn’t see him anywhere. 

“Where’s Mickey?” She gasped for breath. 

The nearest mechanic smirked at her. “Finished for the day, Princess.”

An older man swatted him with an oily rag. “Hey. You heard the boss. She’s underage and she’s his family.”

Franny blushed deeply. “He’s my uncle. Do you know where he is?”

“Something about a family dinner...”

“Shit! That’s where I’m meant to be! Thanks!”

She took off running once again. 

 

“Hey Lip...pass the potatoes...” Fiona called out. 

Lip passed them down the line and received a plate of ham in its place. 

“Where’s Franny?” Debbie glanced at the clock. “She knew we were having dinner early tonight...”

Mickey buttered two bread rolls and passed one over to Ian, who smiled his thanks. 

The conversation at the table overlapped loudly. Liam was telling Yev about his new remote controlled car. Debbie was updating Fiona on work. Fiona was asking Lip about his job in New York. Ian was chatting to Mickey about his day too. The entire table fell silent when the door swung open and clattered off the wall. 

“I passed! I passed! We did it!” Franny yelped excitedly. 

She bounced into the kitchen and darted past Lip, who was beaming and looking very pleased with himself. He watched in stunned disbelief when she launched herself into Mickey’s arms. 

“We did it! Thank you! Thank you so much! Coach says I’m back on the team! You’re my hero!”

Mickey squirmed with discomfort and looked to Ian for help but the redhead was too shocked to speak. 

“What’s goin on?” Fiona asked what everyone was thinking. 

“Nothin.” Mickey muttered, giving in and hugging Franny back. He patted her back nervously and she pulled back, eyes glistening with happy tears. 

“Uncle Mickey tutored me after school for a week before my test. He saved me.” She sniffled. 

Mickey was blushing furiously when everyone looked at him in surprise. It was all worth it for the expression on Lip’s face. 

“You did?” Ian asked him. “When?”

“Uh...after school...she came by the shop.” Mickey admitted. 

Ian grinned widely. “That’s kinda sweet Mick.”

“Yeah. Careful Mickey. People will think you’ve gone soft.” Carl teased. 

“Alright assholes. Kid needed help. I helped. End of. Can we eat now?” Mickey snapped. 

Franny slipped into the empty chair beside Yev and grabbed a bread roll. 

“So I’m at swim practice on Monday but I’ll be at the shop after school Tuesday.” She told Mickey breezily. 

“Wait what? Why? You passed...” Mickey looked at her in horror. 

Franny just grinned and shrugged while she chewed. “It just seems silly to stop now when I’m doing so well. Right? Yev, pass the butter please. Thanks.”

And just like that the conversation chatter started up again and Mickey didn’t get a chance to argue. 

Ian leaned closer to whisper in his ear, resting his hand high on Mickey’s thigh. “I got a whole load of teacher/student fantasies going through my mind right now.”

Mickey’s blush deepened. “Shut your mouth and eat your dinner. Save that shit for later.”

 

 


End file.
